Silver Shekel Discovered

The Israel Antiquities Authority has taken advantage of the upcoming holiday of Purim to announce the discovery of a shekel coin in the excavation of the City of David. On Purim, observant Jews give the equivalent of half a shekel in remembrance of the half-shekel contributed to the Temple yearly.

According to the press release:

The shekel that was found in the excavation weighs 13 grams, bears the head of Melqart, the chief deity of the city of Tyre on the obverse (equivalent to the Semitic god Baal) and an eagle upon a ship’s prow on the reverse. The coin was struck in the year 22 CE.